


Fan Flirting and Flowers

by GhostDetective



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Budding Love, F/M, Forbidden Love, Language of Flowers, Older Man/Younger Woman, Requited Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 20:29:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18611959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostDetective/pseuds/GhostDetective
Summary: "Your movements should be elegant and fleeting. The art of the slay lies in the fluidity of its movement.” Giles explained, watching her gather herself. “It should be done gently, gracefully, like flirting a brush.”





	Fan Flirting and Flowers

Giles dived out of the way as Buffy ran at him with a wooden stake held tightly in her hand, nearly knocking over a bookshelf as she grabbed onto it for support.  
“Concentrate, Buffy.” Giles prompted. "Your movements should be elegant and fleeting. The art of the slay lies in the fluidity of its movement.” Giles explained, watching her gather herself. “It should be done gently, gracefully, like flirting a brush.”  
Buffy twirled around and stabbed the air, stopping inches from Giles’ heart.  
“Excellent, Buffy. I think we’ll leave it there for today.”

As Buffy collected her things, Giles watched her absently.  
“Why would you flirt with a brush?” Buffy asked, eyeing him curiously.  
“I beg your pardon?”  
“You said about flirting with brushes.”  
Giles’ confusion gave way to a dawning comprehension. He leaned back against the desk.  
“Oh. I was referring to the act of flitting a brush. You see, the word flitting shares an origin with the word flirting, they both refer to rapid movement, and they were both used to describe the way that the women at court would use their fans to send secret messages to their paramours.”  
“Paramours?” Buffy asked, sitting down next to him.  
“It’s what one calls a lover.” Giles suddenly found the couldn’t look her in the eyes. He cleared his throat. “The ladies would use their fans to communicate anything from ‘I wish to speak to you,’ to ‘I love another,’ to ‘you have won my love.’ Giles chanced a look at Buffy and found her watching him with a strange look in her eyes. He looked back down at his feet.  
“Like the language of flowers.”  
Giles looked up. Could Buffy mean what he thought she did? 

At Giles’ confused look, Buffy elaborated.  
“It was something Willow told me about. About all the different flowers and how they all mean something different, and you could say anything from ‘I don’t like you,’ to ‘I like you, let’s be friends,’ to ‘I love you.’ There’s a surprising amount of ways you can say ‘I’m disappointed in you’ with flowers.”  
“I’m sure there are just as many ways to say ‘I love you’ with flowers too.” Giles smiled softly.  
“There are, yellow acacia is for secret love, red roses are for true love and yellow tulips mean hopelessly in love.” Buffy looked at Giles pointedly, Giles held her gaze.  
“Funny thing,” Giles said, slowly “they’ve been growing in my garden for many years, I shall now look at them in a new light.”  
Buffy leaned in a little closer. Giles closed his eyes.  
“I think that’s enough for today.” Giles opened his eyes, avoiding hers. “You’ve got patrol tonight and I wouldn’t want to exhaust you.”  
“Oh, ok.” Buffy tried to conceal her disappointment as she collected her things. “So I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess.”  
“See you tomorrow, Buffy.” Giles gave her a friendly smile, which Buffy couldn’t help but return, despite her sadness. 

It was nearly dark when Buffy got to the gates of Sunnydale Cemetery, she set her bag down by her usual spot, then she noticed a bouquet of yellow tulips there, waiting for her. She picked them up and saw a small card tucked between the flower heads. She picked it up.

‘ _A gift from my garden - G_ ’

Buffy held them to her nose and breathed in their sweet scent, a radiant smile spreading across her face.


End file.
